Do you have a bent, broken, cracked, dented or otherwise un-ridable bike frame laying around? Do you want an awesome way to commemorate your beloved bike frame? Then you should turn it into a functional pen holder!
Here's what you'll need:
A bike frame (please don't cut up your current ride)
Hacksaw or mitre saw with a metal cutting blade
Fine metal file
Scrap of cardboard
Felt tipped marker
Spare, unused chain links
Here's how you'll make it:
1. Clean your frame of dirt and grease.
2. Determine the location of your down tube and seat tube cuts. Take a pen and hold it up to the frame to get a reference point. You'll want to cut the frame shorter than the shortest pen you have so you can still grab it from the tube. Be generous with the length though, you can always cut away more later if you need to. Based on your preferences, determine how long you want the chainstays to be. Realize though, when the down tube is filled with pens, your pen holder will want to tip so be prepared to stuff the chainstays with some weight (more on that subject below). Mark the cut locations with your marker. You can make your cuts square to the tubes as shown here, you can make them horizontal when sitting flat, or you can go wild and make them any angle you like.
3. Put on your safety glasses and let 'er rip!
4. Leave those safety glasses on and smooth the edges with your metal file. Be carefull filing from the outside because it's easy to scratch any paint that's on your frame.
5. Now cut out a piece of cardboard that is equal to or just slightly larger than the inside diameter of the down tube and seat tube. Push them down to the bottom of the tube near the bottom bracket. This will prevent any pen or pencil from dropping through the small hole leading from the down tube or seat tube into the bottom bracket.
6. Gather some spare links of chain from the bottom of your toolbox and stuff them into the chainstays to ensure that your new creation will remain upright.
7. Fill your new creation with pens and pencils and continue to enjoy that bike frame even after it's done riding!
8. (Optional) Use the rest of your bike's down tube to make a lamp stand! Check out burntorange's Instructable here.